


kiss kiss (fall in love)

by tostitos



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, Fluff and Humor, Kissing Booths, M/M, School Festivals, jock/nerd au except hyungwon isn't a nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 14:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tostitos/pseuds/tostitos
Summary: In which Hyungwon, by some horrible stroke of bad luck, is assigned to the kissing booth for the school festival and he doesn't know what to do about the soccer captain who 'obviously' only comes over for a peck on the cheek because of a dare.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is a #mess
> 
> don't say i didn't warn you

The first thing Kihyun does when Hyungwon walks into class 3-2 on Thursday morning, ready to learn (read: doodle modern art's next big thing into the margins of his notebooks), is laugh dead in his face. There's no explanation, no 'Hyungwon, you're still in your pajamas, you fucking loser' — nothing. He laughs like Hyungwon just missed the joke of the century which means something has happened and Hyungwon is the star of the show.

Hyungwon isn't even sure if he wants to know.

"Can you shut up? It's too early for this," Hyungwon grumbles as he tosses his book bag on his desk and immediately begins to take out everything he'll need for the day.

And, of course, because Kihyun is literal human waste too shitty to understand concepts like decency or respect, the laughter increases in volume.

A few of their classmates are watching, some of them snickering as well, and Hyungwon really doesn't like this.

There is absolutely nothing that he can think of that he's done recently that would cause this. (Not that Kihyun needs a reason to be an annoying little squirt but even this is extra by his standards.)

Hoseok, sporting a small, apologetic grin, swoops in and reels Kihyun in with a pinch to the back of his neck as if he's a kitten.

"Ignore him. He's just a little excited for the culture festival," he says.

Narrowing his eyes, Hyungwon slips his book bag off his desk and walks it over to the line of small cubicle boxes in the back of the classroom, shoving it into his own personal one.

They're all a little hype about the culture festival but that doesn't expla—

Wait.

No.

_No._

He missed school the day before because his dad is a freak and needs to schedule all family medical and dental appointments on the same day for 'efficiency'. It was the day their class was supposed to choose assignments for the festival and Hyungwon assumed, since he isn't in any clubs, that he'd be thrown into managing the haunted house but...

He whips around with wide eyes to see everyone staring back. His mouth drops open but he doesn't even know what to ask. The possibilities are endless.

"So, um," Hoseok laughs a bit, "they decided to switch out the haunted house with something else this year and, um, it's now a...kissing booth?"

Beside him, Kihyun bursts into laughter again and Hoseok slaps him on the back.

Automatically Hyungwon's day is ruined. His week, his month, this year, his entire school experience has been ruined with this single turn of events.

A kissing booth? How did they get that approved by the principal? How do they expect Hyungwon to willingly put his mouth on the cheeks of his schoolmates? And the festival is a public event! What if someone's two hundred year old grandfather comes up asking Hyungwon to lay a wet one on them?

"This is peak homophobia."

That gets a few laughs out of his classmates and even a snort from Hoseok but Hyungwon is one hundred percent serious.

He can't do it. He has to drop out of school.

 

Hyungwon complains for the first week to his head teacher, Mrs. Gong, but she's hateful and lives of the suffering of her students—

"Mrs. Gong, this is unacceptable. I wasn't even there. This is in direct violation of my democratic rights."

"Okay, you're being dramatic. I can't change you to another booth, Hyungwon, I'm sorry. But if you're uncomfortable, you're not going to get in trouble for turning people down."

—so he eventually gives in.

 

"Can we make this any more pink? I don't think there's enough pink," Hyungwon deadpans when they finish setting up their lines of stalls and take a step back to look at their work.

There are three stalls for the five of them who are either proud members of the going home club or desperate for some kind of mouth action or both. Their booth is covered in ribbons and rainbows and hearts and baby cupids and _pink_. Objectively, it's cute, if not stereotypical.

They cut it pretty close with decorating; the festival officially opens its doors soon and every other booth is already finished with preparations.

"We still have some more glitter left," Bona replies cheerily, either completely missing his sarcasm or (more likely) ignoring it.

Hyungwon shudders at the thought of more glitter. They made signs to advertise their booth the week before but he's still finding sparkles in weird places on his skin.

"The haunted house would have been so much better than this," Changkyun, the only other guy doing this booth, sighs as he moves to settle on one of the round stools behind the middle stall he'll share with Hani.

Through unusual luck, Hyungwon won a single stall to himself in a game of rock paper scissors. He perches atop his own stool, spreading his legs wide just because he can.

Their booth is on the edge of the school yard, close to where the makeshift stage is set up. It's comforting but also makes Hyungwon feel like they're leftover goods. Hopefully no one comes over.

"Hey, lover boy." Like the roach that he is, Kihyun crawls in with a wide, shit-eating grin.

Hyungwon flashes him his middle finger.

"I brought you a gift."

"Keep i-"

Kihyun tosses a stick of chapstick onto the counter. Cherry. With pink fucking tint.

Hyungwon blinks at it, wondering if any of the teachers would notice if he punched the other boy straight in his throat. Taking the chapstick, he uncaps it. "Thanks," he says as he spreads it thinly over his lips. Smacking his lips together, he leers at Kihyun. "Want the first taste?"

Kihyun grimaces. "You're gross," he complains even as he slips a 1000 won bill into Hyungwon's jar that'll go to a local charity.

"Don't send me mixed messages then, shrimp. Go away."

Kihyun flips him off — it's something of a secret best friend handshake except not — and reminds him that it's okay to say no in a rare act of kindness and returns to his own booth selling chocolate covered bananas with the music club.

 

For as much as he was dreading it, working the booth isn't so bad. It's mostly cute girls who come up for small pecks on the cheek from Hani, Bona, or the third girl, Seulgi. He and Changkyun don't get much traffic but Changkyun _does_ look like he hates life and Hyungwon knows most people think he looks like a fish. He does kiss a few first year girls who go pink — poor things don't know he doesn't bat for that team — and Hoseok who asks for two to make up for Kihyun.

After another lull in people, Hyungwon drags his donation jar over to count how much he's made. It's not much, mostly loose change, but he has more than Changkyun at least.

A hand slams down in front of his own and he flinches. He snaps his head up, ready to chew whoever it is out, but his words die on his tongue when he meets an amused gaze and a confident smirk.

Lee Minhyuk of class 3-5. Also known as the goalkeeper and co-captain of the soccer team.

"Uhhhh," Hyungwon gargles intelligently as he stares up at the handsome boy in his soccer uniform, muscled legs on full display and wavy black hair falling softly over his brow. "Are you lost?"

Minhyuk laughs with a husky timber that makes goose pimples raise on Hyungwon's arms. "Is this the kissing booth?"

"Yeah?"

"Then no, I'm not." He lifts his hand from the table and pinched between his index and middle finger are two 10000 won bills. Easily, he angles the donation jar still in Hyungwon's hand toward himself and slips the money in.

He takes the jar completely then, moving it off to the side of the stall. "You don't mind kissing a guy, do you?"

Hyungwon scoffs. "Did you really just ask _my_ gay ass that?" His brain catches up a second later and his eyes widen with horror. "Wait, I-"

Minhyuk seems to think he's hilarious, laughing again. "Well, that's surely an answer."

A fierce blush floods Hyungwon's face. "Okay!" he exclaims, standing up on shaky legs and feeling like a newborn foal. "Let's do this before I embarrass myself any more than I already have."

Stabilizing himself on the surface of the stall, Hyungwon waits for Minhyuk to lean over the space between them before doing the same and gingerly pressing his lips against the bone of Minhyuk's cheek. This close, nose pressed up against the side of the other boy's face, Hyungwon can smell the coconut of his shampoo. He wants to die. There's nothing more attractive than a guy who uses products that actually smell good as opposed to shit like 'woodland musk' in the name of masculinity.

When he draws back after _not_ smelling Minhyuk again on purpose, the boy's face is contemplative.

"If you have any complaints, I'm afraid that our customer service line is closed for forever and you'll have to keep them to yourself."

That snaps Minhyuk out of his thoughts and the soccer player looks at him with a raised brow, his smirk returning.

"What about compliments? Should I keep those to myself or am I allowed to tell you how soft your lips are?" he says lowly, just loud enough for Hyungwon to hear when he leans in again.

And because he spends too much time arguing with Kihyun, the retort 'keep it' almost comes out but Hyungwon swallows it back down quick. Unfortunately, that leaves him with nothing but an idiotic, "uhhh..."

Chuckling, Minhyuk straightens up and fits his hands into his pockets casually. "I'll let you think about that and get back to you later."

Hyungwon nods slowly. "Yeah, later."

It's as Minhyuk's walking away that Hyungwon notices Hyunwoo, the other soccer captain, and Jooheon, the unofficial mascot and official bench warmer, standing off to the side and obviously gossiping about what just happened if their huge grins and _completely subtle_ looks in Hyungwon's direction are any indication.

Minhyuk yells at them to shut up, catching Jooheon in a headlock when he reaches them. As they walk off together, Minhyuk spins around and catches Hyungwon's eye. He's not so far away that Hyungwon can't see the way he wiggles his eyebrows at him.

Before Hyungwon can figure out how he should react to that, Minhyuk trips, stumbling into Hyunwoo. Righting himself, Minhyuk winks at him as if he didn't almost fall on his ass and turns back around, leaving Hyungwon to question.

"Why does it feel like I was the victim of a dare?"

He looks over at Changkyun who is perched with his chin in his palm, bored glaze in his eyes. "Probably because you were."

Hyungwon nods and lets that sink in. "Thought so."

 

"You want to walk around again?" Changkyun asks, slipping off his stool.

One glance at his phone tells him that there's another thirty minutes until the festival closes for the first day. Hyungwon wandered around the other booths a little after lunch to heckle Kihyun about his banana dipping method, talk about the choreo he's been working on with Hoseok, and look at the art displays and a (pretty bad) performance of TWICE's 'Signal' by some second year boys. Since then he hasn't been doing much of anything but sitting around, catching germs from the few kids who come around to his side of the booth and talking to Changkyun in between.

He's not a bad kid, Hyungwon learns. Changkyun's two years younger than him although they're in the same grade; he's one of those child geniuses who should already have two phDs but tries to blend in with the rest of mediocre humanity. But beneath all the brains is a kid passionate about aliens and cryptids. It's not official or anything, but Hyungwon has adopted him.

"Yeah, sure."

They tell the girls that they'll be back and Hani shouts after them, asking for them to bring her back some banana milk.

Milling around is mostly just students of their school, a few parents lingering around to drive their kids home after they clean up for the day. Some boy Hyungwon recognizes from some of their choral shows is on stage singing a melody of K-Will ballads.

Hyungwon loses Changkyun around the school newspaper's booth, the younger boy's attention stolen by a girl he knows who writes the faux horoscope predictions. Not bothering to wait until Changkyun finishes his conversation, he wanders the courtyard, checking out all of the stalls he missed on his first walk around.

"Hey! Kissing Booth!"

Stopping short, Hyungwon's face scrunches with distaste at whoever just called out. The distaste quickly melts into surprise, his eyes widening, when he turns to the left and spots the soccer team.

Minhyuk is there, leaning coolly against their booth that was selling tteokbokki with his phone in hand. He pushes off of it as soon as Hyungwon notices him, abandoning Hongbin who was in the middle of speaking to him.

Hyungwon sighs. What else could he want after earlier?

"You done for the day?" Minhyuk asks once he's standing right in front of Hyungwon.

Looking away from the sporty boy, Hyungwon shrugs. "I guess. There aren't many people willing to come up to the booth."

Minhyuk hums. "I would say that's a shame, but then I'd by lying," he says with a peculiar raise of an eyebrow. Taking a step closer to Hyungwon, he angles his head to catch the younger boy's eyes. "I have to get going soon but can I ask you a question?"

Glancing at the other boy, Hyungwon nods. "You already did," he says because he's stupid and says stupid things when he's nervous.

Minhyuk doesn't seem to mind, still smiling and looking at Hyungwon like holding the younger boy's attention is all he cares about. "Are you guys doing the booth tomorrow?"

At the thought of another full day just like this one, Hyungwon groans. "Unfortunately."

"Cool." Minhyuk's smile turns mischievous. "Then, I'll see you tomorrow."

Hyungwon wasn't prone to hallucinations. But that's the only thing that can explain Minhyuk placing a soft hand on Hyungwon's neck and drawing him down to press his lips a centimeter away from the corner of his mouth because it surely doesn't happen in reality. Not even the whistling from the team next to them is real.

He's waiting for the moment he wakes up and realizes this is all fake - that he's nothing more than some girl's dumb sim who will probably end up drowned in a ladder-less pool when she gets tired of trying to hook him up with the cute boy at his school.

Slowly removing his hand from Hyungwon's face, Minhyuk winks at him _again_. "Hope you don't mind me stealing that one."

And like the intellectual that he is, Hyungwon gracefully responds, "uhhhh."

Phone ringing loud into the courtyard, Minhyuk raises the device in hand with a chuckle. He answers the call, hardly glancing at the screen, eyes focused on Hyungwon. "Yeah, okay, I'm coming," he says into the receiver after listening to someone on the other side. He doesn't hang up as he lifts his other hand and wags his fingers in a wave. "Later, Kissing Booth."

He turns on his heel, smoothly leaving Hyungwon and the school yard without another look back.

Hyungwon glances at the soccer team but no one is paying him any attention, all of them squabbling over who'll eat the last of the tteokbokki.

Fanning his face that feels like an easy bake oven, he decides to hunt down Changkyun and go back to their booth.

He doesn't know what just happened or why it did, but if this _is_ a prank by the soccer team, then it's really fucking elaborate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello lovelies. i hope y'all are having a good day and if not, i hope some fluff will help <3
> 
> (i went to their tokyo christmas live and when i say it was an Experience...)

“Who did what to _whom_?!”

Hyungwon winces at Hoseok’s volume, the older boy so loud he scares the birds off the railing lining the curb.

They all live in the same general area and today grouped up to walk together to school. It isn’t something they usually do considering Hyungwon’s tendency to oversleep, but Hyungwon found himself awake with nervous energy that morning.

“Normally I’d say Hoseok’s exaggerating his reaction but honestly? Same,” Kihyun says.

Rubbing at the back of his neck, Hyungwon shrugs. “Lee Minhyuk, absolute soccer babe Lee Minhyuk—

Kihyun snorts. “We didn’t ask for descriptive add-ins.”

“—kissed me,” Hyungwon repeats before continuing with what he left out the first time. “Twice.”

“ _Twice_?! As in not one, but _two_ times?” Hoseok screeches again, holding up fingers as if he needs visual aids to help understand what Hyungwon has just said.

“No, as in the girl group, you idiot.” Kihyun rolls his eyes and is almost thrown into the next city when Hoseok shoves him.

Hyungwon claps his hands to get them back on track. He told them because he needs help (even though they wouldn’t be of much help if the soccer team really is out to get him). “Okay, before you start fighting in the streets, gentlemen, I would like to remind you of what is really important here: me and the fact that Minhyuk said he’s going to come back to the booth today.”

"What's the problem?" Kihyun asks. "He comes over again, you make out, happily ever after."

"The problem is that I'm pretty sure this is like in the movies where the hot jock shows interest in the quirky outcast and then they hook up in the locker room only for the lovable, quirky outcast to find out that they're being taped by the jock's friends," Hyungwon rambles out, kicking at rocks and flinching when he hits a grasshopper that jumps at him in revenge.

"Has anyone told you that you're really dramatic?"

Yes, often, but that's not really important when Hyungwon's gut is telling him that he's being stupid about this whole Minhyuk thing. He didn't even know that Minhyuk was into boys (although he also isn't friends with the kind of people who would be close to Minhyuk and therefore be privy to that kind of information). And Hyungwon wasn't exactly bullied as an openly gay kid, but that doesn't mean he isn't subject to bullshit from other students every once in a while; he's never heard anyone say a bad thing about Minhyuk other than that he's too excitable and perhaps not the sharpest crayon in the box.

Plus, he's hot. And hot boys don't go for people like Hyungwon. It's a cosmic rule.

"Yeah, you're being dumb," Hoseok agrees with Kihyun. "If I were you, I'd climb all over that."

"Hell, so would _I_ ,” says Kihyun. “And if it does turn out to be fake, which it doesn’t sound like it is, then we can get Hoseok to fight him.”

Hyungwon sighs, but on the inside he does feel calmer about the Kissing Booth Situation. There isn’t anything can do about it anyway, save for hiding under the booth if he spies any of the players on the soccer team. “Hoseok is afraid of ladybugs—”

“I am not!”

“—I don’t think he’s fighting anyone.”

 

Changkyun slumps over the booth as soon as he takes a seat on his stool and doesn’t move for a whole thirty minutes. Hyungwon is sure his new son has given up on this job, but doesn’t say that to any of the girls who look at the younger boy with questions in their eyes when they come up.

There are more people from the community who come on the second day and Hyungwon spends most of it kissing toddlers who are still doing Frozen cosplay for some reason. Hoseok's little brother drops by to say hi; Kihyun's little sister visits too, pretending she wants a kiss only to turn up her nose and call him a frog (surely at the order of her shithead brother).

It's a pretty alright day so far considering there's no balding grandfathers looking for a sugar baby (it's happened before; this is a valid fear) and no Minhyuk.

 

"How are you doing, Hyungwon?" Mrs. Gong asks as Hyungwon is ordering fries a little before noon to beat the rush of other hungry students.

He drops a handful of change on the counter and glances at his teacher. "I'm suffering but thanks for asking."

She rolls his eyes at his answer. "I take it you're doing fine then."

That's not at all what Hyungwon said but he doesn't think to repeat himself. He takes his tall paper cup full of fries with a smile.

"Saem, I know I won't be here next year. But for the sake of my sweet underclassmen, please don't let them have a kissing booth ever again. This is your duty as a teacher."

Mrs. Gong only pats him on the cheek and says, "have fun" before continuing to walk around the grounds.

She's the worst - the devil, possibly.

Biting into half of a fry, Hyungwon thinks about walking around to find his friends (and beat Kihyun to a pulp) before spying the tteokbokki stand and the soccer team horsing around.

(He feels bad for Hyunwoo who looks like the only responsible kid serving customers).

Aborting the mission, Hyungwon returns to his station. As soon as he puts down his cup, Changkyun pokes his head up.

"Thanks." He grins and steals too many fries to be acceptable this early in their father-son-ship.

Hyungwon gapes at him, watching as he shoves the greasy potatoes into his mouth.

When he finishes, he lies back down on his arms.

"I expect compensation for those," Hyungwon says, about 80% serious.

Changkyun doesn't answer.

 

“Oh, you’re so darling. I could just eat you right up like a little snack. You remind me of my first husband. He was gorgeous. Had big eyes just like you too. He was a horrible drunk though. Don’t drink, sweetheart.”

Hyungwon wished the _world_ would eat him up like a little snack. He thought the scariest thing about the booth was Minhyuk’s sudden random interest in him but now he sees that this — being eternally damned to listen to the life story of someone’s grandma all the while she gushes over how handsome he is — is the most horrific thing that can happen.

He really doesn’t care about her two ex-husbands or the reasons why they divorced but he can’t plainly tell her that. And Changkyun is pretending not to notice his distress, face still buried in his arms but obviously awake from the way his shoulders shake with laughter. It’s only been a day, but Hyungwon is putting him up for adoption.

“Grandma!”

Jooheon jogs over and wraps an arm around the woman and begins to lead her away from the booth.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” he says with a loud, fake laugh.

“I don’t have a grandson.” Despite being completely confused, she continues to let herself be moved along.

Hyungwon watches the entire scene dumbfounded. He doesn’t know why this is happening, but he won’t complain if she doesn’t come back.

Jooheon turns over his shoulder and shoots someone a thumbs up.

Hyungwon follows his line of vision until it stops on Minhyuk who is grinning and pressing his hands together in a thank you gesture.

The goalie turns to the booth then and Hyungwon quickly drags the donations jar over and pretends to be preoccupied with counting the money inside. It’s a whopping five thousand two hundred won in total, but Hyungwon individually inspects each bill and coin with great attention. Even when Minhyuk walks up and perches halfway on the front edge of the booth, he continues to turn a one hundred won coin over with his fingers like he’s appraising gold.

“You open for business, Kissing Booth?” Minhyuk asks, a hint of laughter in his voice. He leans on his hand and taps his fingers in a haphazard rhythm.

Hyungwon glances up at him and immediately locks eyes with the slightly older boy. Mentally, he curses himself. Minhyuk isn’t even doing anything but sitting there and looking at him and Hyungwon’s already starting to feel the warmth of a blush. “Sorry, we’re actually closed for renovations.”

“Really? Your coworkers don’t look like they’ve gotten the memo.” Minhyuk raises an eyebrow and shoots a glance over to Hani who is plopping a kiss on a boy’s cheek further down the row.

“Uhhhhhhhh,” Hyungwon stutters, frantically looking for something to say.

Before he can find the words, Minhyuk is leaning closer. “Look, Kissing Booth, I have a problem.”

Hyungwon frowns. “What is it?”

Minhyuk sighs heavily as he leans in even more. “My lips are lonely.”

“What?” He can’t help the way his eyes drop down to Minhyuk’s mouth, all pink and soft-looking and—. Blinking, Hyungwon retreats, leaning back to put a little bit of space between them.

“My lips are lonely,” Minhyuk repeats. “Can they meet yours?”

A high pitched whistle sounds to the right of them and Hyungwon stabs Changkyun with a sharp glare.

When he faces Minhyuk again, the boy is wearing a flirtatious smirk as if the pick-up line wasn’t bad enough for Hyungwon’s heart.

There’s no way this is real. There is _no way_ Minhyuk is flirting with him like this. With cheesy pick-up lines and way too much confidence. With Hyungwon in general.

“W-We’re not- It’s only- You want to- I shouldn’t- _Me_?”

Minhyuk laughs at his babbling but it doesn’t sound teasing or mean-spirited. “Yeah, you. Something wrong with that?”

“Um, have you seen me?” Hyungwon points at himself. Personally, he thought he was handsome but he was unfortunately gangly and his hair never stayed down and he was starting to break out on his cheek and-

“Yeah, but I guess there must be something wrong with my eyes because I can’t take them off of you.”

The part of Hyungwon that wants to roll his eyes at these horrible pick-up lines is beaten out by the part that makes his heart pound and face flood a darker pink.

“So what’s it gonna be, Kissing Booth? Are you coming over here or am I going over there?”

“Uhhhhhhh.” Hoseok and Kihyun said he was being stupid and that he should go for it, right? “Whatever you want,” Hyungwon squeaks, sounding like he just inhaled enough helium to soar off into the sky.

He’s powerless to watch Minhyuk stand and slink around the side of the booth until the older boy is standing right beside him. Hyungwon stands as well and tries to feign nonchalance.

He wonders if he’s not going to explode into a million pieces when Minhyuk softly cups his face and leans in, eyes trained on Hyungwon’s mouth.

“I hope no one walks by,” Hyungwon finds himself mumbling.

“So no one interrupts?” Minhyuk replies only centimeters from Hyungwon’s lips, just as quiet.

“So we don’t get in trouble.”

Minhyuk shrugs and then closes the small gap between them with a warm hand on Hyungwon's neck, skipping the short peck Hyungwon was expecting and quickly working his way into the younger boy's mouth.

All of Hyungwon’s worries evaporate in the heat of the kiss. He settles his hands over Minhyuk's waist and lets the older, obviously more experienced boy lead.

It's hard not to get lost in it all -- in the softness of Minhyuk's lips, the cherry sweetness of his tongue casually flirting with Hyungwon's own, in the blessed coconut shampoo, in his hands that cup Hyungwon's jaw as if he's a precious jewel. So can anyone blame Hyungwon for whining disappointedly and following Minhyuk's lips when he pulls away.

"I thought you were worried about getting in trouble," Minhyuk jokes with a breathy laugh, rubbing one of his thumbs over the bone of Hyungwon's cheek.

He looks genuinely pleased and that really isn't healthy for Hyungwon's crush-stricken heart.

"I mean, if that's a risk you're willing to take, then I'm all for it." Minhyuk grins at him. "But I'd rather we save it for later."

And as he comes down from kiss bliss, Hyungwon can't stop himself from blurting out, "what?"

Minhyuk raises an eyebrow, finally dropping his hands from Hyungwon's face and stepping back. "What what?"

"What what what? What do you mean later?"

"Later as in not now?" replies Minhyuk, obviously confused. "When we can have time to ourselves?"

Hyungwon tries to understand that and falls short before the lines in his brain connect. "But isn't this just like a prank or a dare or something?"

The confusion on Minhyuk's face grows. "No? Why would you think that?"

"Because you're you and I'm an amphibian animorph with a persecution complex?"

"Hyungwon," Minhyuk places his hands on the taller boy's shoulders and trails them down over his arms, "I'll admit that I came up to the booth for a dare but that's because the guys were tired of me crying over how gorgeous you are every time I saw you in the hallway."

"What?" That sounds fake. Hyungwon definitely would have noticed that.

Minhyuk laughs then. "I thought I was being really obvious about it."

"Uhhhhh, not at all." Hyungwon shakes his head with a laugh of his own, a smile beginning to spread.

"So, yeah, later?" Minhyuk asks, hopeful. "If you're not busy then maybe we can get something to eat after the festival?"

Hyungwon has never agreed to something so quickly.

"I'd like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk i need some more cute so i'm extending it to another chapter


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't realize i never finished this oops. i don't remember what i wanted to do so have this crappy short ending <3

"Well, it looks like you survived the festival." Kihyun pats Hyungwon heavily on the back when he finds the tall boy leaning out of a window in the hall outside their classroom.

The festival is officially over, Hyungwon's last one as a student at this high school, and he can't be more thankful. It wasn't as bad as it could have been (and he might have gotten a boyfriend out of it) but it was definitely more stressful than the haunted house would have been.

He and the others are already finished with taking down the kissing booth and passing over the charity donations to Mrs. Seo, the teacher who was technically in charge of them, and now Hyungwon is waiting for his friends to finish up with their own duties so they can walk home together.

"Depends on how you define survival," Hyungwon says monotonously. As he watches the fields of their school return to normal, all of the booths and chairs and balloons being packed up or tossed out, he has to admit to himself that a tiny part of himself — maybe half a percent — enjoyed it. But, really, that's all because of Minhyuk and nothing else. Changkyun could have been apart of that happiness, but Hyungwon has already disowned him so he's missing out on the good feelings.

He doesn't want to tell that to Kihyun though. At least, not right now. Not when he and Minhyuk aren't anything official.

"Have you seen Hoseok?" Hyungwon asks and scoots over to make room for Kihyun to lean out of the open window too.

Kihyun shrugs, uninterested. "You know he has, like, other friends and shit."

A third figure sidles up beside Hyungwon and he assumes it's Hoseok until a gentle hand settles on the small of his back. He glances over and is greeted with soft eyes and a worried frown.

"Are your legs tired?" Minhyuk asks, running his hand up his back and over Hyungwon's shoulder.

Despite his soft blush at the familiar touch, Hyungwon shakes his head in confusion. "No, not really?"

Minhyuk's frown lightens. "I imagined they would be because you've been running through my mind all day." And then he's smiling, a huge shit-eating grin covering the entire lower half of his face.

Groaning in faux disgust, Hyungwon pushes the soccer captain away. "I cannot handle this."

"And what is 'this'," cuts in Kihyun, looking between the two of them with a raised eyebrow and a rare, non-sarcastic smile. "I'm guessing we don't need to get Hoseok to fight him?"

"The Hoseok from your class? I heard he's afraid of ladybugs." Minhyuk laughs at the thought of them fighting.

"I am not afraid of ladybugs!"

All three boys turn to Hoseok coming out of classroom 3-4 with an offended glare.

"Oh, sorry, dude," Minhyuk apologizes.

Hyungwon stage whispers: "Don't be. He's definitely afraid of them."

"So, is this a thing?" Kihyun motions between Hyungwon and Minhyuk.

Humming, Hyungwon glances at Minhyuk who looks back and raises his eyebrow. "Maybe," he says, partly teasing and partly still feeling out of depth. But can anyone blame him for being unable to believe that the gorgeous boy beside him actually likes him?

Minhyuk chuckles and sidles back up to Hyungwon, looping his arms around his waist and pulling him back against his chest. "Lee Minhyuk doesn't do maybes so that sounds like a yes to me."

"Sounded like a maybe to me," both Hyungwon and Kihyun say simultaneously, truly a winning pair of best friends.

That doesn't stop them from glaring at each other as soon as they realize they synced up.

"Stop copying me, shrimp."

"Do you really think I would copy your dumb ass? What a joke."

Thoroughly amused, Minhyuk snorts and glances at Hoseok over Hyungwon's shoulder. "I noticed they bicker a lot but are they _always_ like this?"

Hoseok, with a fond look in his eyes as he looks at his arguing friends, nods. "Yeah, pretty much."

Nuzzling against Hyungwon's neck, Minhyuk presses a kiss under his jaw. "Do you mind if I steal you away from your friends? We do have a date to go on."

A light blush burns Hyungwon's cheeks. He did agree to go to eat with Minhyuk, didn't he? That would constitute as a date, wouldn't it?

"You're not even a thing yet and you're already ditching us," Kihyun says blankly. "I see how much we mean to you, Frogger."

"Shut up." Hyungwon kicks a leg out and lands his foot close to Kihyun's no-no zone before the mean boy jerks back out of the way and into Hoseok who grabs his shoulders to keep him from falling.

Laughing, Minhyuk unwraps his arms from Hyungwon's waist and slips a hand into the younger boy's, threading their fingers together. "I promise not to steal him away too much. We should all hang out some day. You guys seem cool enough."

And to a threat from Kihyun about Hoseok beating Minhyuk up if he hurts Hyungwon and Minhyuk's light laughter, Hyungwon lets himself get led out of the school, Minhyuk swinging their hands between them cutely without a care for the other students who can see them.

 

Minhyuk takes them to the local cupcakery when they both decide that they're not very hungry for real food. They find a table in the corner up against the front window and Minhyuk sits his bookbag in one of the chairs before they shuffle back over to the counter.

Hyungwon sweeps his eyes over all of the sweets in the glass display. There's everything from cupcakes to brownies to muffins, all decorated skillfully and almost too perfect to eat. A simple red velvet chocolate cupcake with cream cheese icing and a strawberry slice on top might be nice..but then there's the lemon cupcake with buttercream icing and rainbow sprinkles. Or the one with the crushed walnuts.

"You look conflicted." Minhyuk laughs, settling a hand on Hyungwon's back.

Hyungwon is starting to realize that the other boy likes to touch.

"I _am_ conflicted," Hyungwon says with a laugh of his own. "You can't take me to a place with this many options. I want to try everything."

"Then we'll have to keep coming back until we can."

He can see Minhyuk's grin in the reflection of the display.

"Really?" Hyungwon blinks down at his date. His _date_. Wow.

"Yeah, really. This isn't a dream, Hyungwon, I promise. So you can stop asking if I'm serious," Minhyuk pats him on the butt lightly, "and tell me what cupcake you want first."

Since he's already red, Hyungwon decides it's only appropriate to go for the red velvet cupcake. Minhyuk gets the same one, saying that if they get different kinds and share, they'll go through the menu faster and he wants to take it slow. He refuses to let Hyungwon pay and Hyungwon doesn't push.

"When did you realize you liked me?" Hyungwon finds the courage to ask once they've returned to the table. He cuts a big chunk of his cupcake with his dessert spoon to eat, making sure to get the strawberry slice in the huge bite.

Minhyuk completely ignores the spoon, lifting the entire cupcake to his face with his hands. He answers before he takes a bite. "You came to one of our matches with your friends and I noticed you when Hoseok randomly started screaming during the second half."

Hyungwon remembers that. A butterfly landed on Hoseok's shoulder. It was amazing. It was also in June.

It's September.

"You couldn't stop laughing and I thought you were adorable. I couldn't tell if you were from our school or the other team's school but then I saw you in the hallway and it was only a matter of time."

For the first time, Minhyuk looks shy, eyes focused on the cupcake in his hand, voice soft, and pink rising in his cheeks. Hyungwon stares at him with round eyes and his mouth popped open in a small circle. He was expecting a few weeks, not a few months.

"Wow," is the best response he can come up. " _Wow_."

"Yeah. It's been a while." Chuckling, Minhyuk finally bites into his cupcake. When he finishes that mouthful, he gazes upon Hyungwon warmly. "I know I did this completely backwards but I'd be the happiest man if you'd get to know me while allowing me to call you my boyfriend."

"Um, yes, of course. Is that even a question?" Hyungwon blurts out before he has a chance to find some small piece of calm. "I mean," he shrugs and flips his fringe, "yes, I'd allow you the privilege of dating me."

Minhyuk doesn't comment on his poor attempt at pretending to be cool. Instead, he leans over and closes his mouth around Hyungwon's upper lip, gently sucking at the plump flesh a little sticky with icing. It's quick and he draws back with a grin. 

"Nice."


End file.
